This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Electric motors are becoming more commonly used in electric vehicle and hybrid vehicle drive units. The electric motors include a stator and a rotor connected to a drive shaft. Lengths of wire, called “conductors”, are wound around the stator structure. This winding process usually causes the windings and internal motor leads to be bent into relatively narrow radius curves defining end windings. The rotor and stator are disposed within a housing. Electric motor design requirements require a minimum spacing between the end windings and the housing without an insulation system on one of the adjacent parts. A reduced spacing is used for applications where one of the adjacent parts has high dielectric insulation qualities. These requirements are designed to prevent risk of short. In previous electric motors, the end windings have been dipped in epoxy to isolate/insulate the end windings. The epoxy dipping was used to comply with the reduced design requirements. However, alternative isolation features are desirable.